I work for a large landscape company. I am also a 40+ year old woman who has to stretch to make 5 feet tall. I have yet to meet a man That I can't keep up with. How do I do it? It has little to do with physical strength. I have a positive attitude; and I know to always use the right tool for the job.
I hate to see someone struggle with a
task simply because they are using the wrong tool. Shovels
are one of the most common tools I see mis-used. Your
common long handled shovel (A-C) is made for lifting and
moving dirt. The angle of the blade to the handle makes it
quite awkward for digging. For most of your most common
gardening tasks, such as digging and edging beds you need a
"spade". (D-F) The angle of the blade to the handle is much
better for these jobs, and the long narrow blade makes
transplanting or edging jobs much easier. The short handle
makes the spade much easier to handle. Although shovel B
has a short handle, it has a wide blade, and is set at an
angle for lifting, rather than digging. If you only have
one shovel for landscaping or gardening make it a spade.
"D" is your ideal edging shovel. "F" is ideal for
transplanting; but either one works well for either job.
To make your chores even easier keep your spade sharpened.
Use a file or grinder to sharpen it the same as you would a
lawnmower blade.
HAPPY DIGGING!
There are several other important tools on the page above. "G" is a hard rake used for smoothing or leveling dirt. You'll find that the back of the rake is as useful as the teeth. "K" is a pole pruner/polesaw, a necessity for pruning trees. "H " is a mulch fork, by far the best tool for moving mulch. I assume everyone recognizes "I" as a hoe, a useful tool for weeding, that for some reason seems to be "forgotten" lately.
It's worth every penny! A great investment! Worth it's weight in Gold! If you can only buy one piece of equipment, this should be it!
Simply the best pruners in the world. What more can I say?
Here are some common prunning tools.
A-D are hand pruners, but they aren't Felcos. "E"&"F" are
anvil type loppers. "G" are by-pass loppers. Both types are
good for cutting branches too large for Felcos, but not
quite saw size. Anvils work better on dead wood. By-pass
blades generally make cleaner, closer cuts."J" is a pole pruner, for cutting smaller tree branches; "K"is a pole saw, for cutting larger branches; both are neccessities for tree pruning. Your cheaper ones have both saw & pruner on one pole. The better ones are separate & the saw blades are replaceable. Many have telescoping poles.
"H" are grass shears. In 10+ years of proffesional pruning I
have never found a use for these. Don't attempt to trim a
bush wit them. Then there's "I", hedge shears. With these
you can make several bad cuts at a time, so you can ruin
your plant more quickly. I had some once. I used
them when the back gate on my truck got stuck;-great
for prying. For pruning,-they have trashed many nice
plants. They are only good for toothpick size branches. Use
them only to neaten up small "loose ends" on formal type
bushes if you use them at all. Shearing is not good for
plants, and causes them to put out many new shoots, so that
they need trimming more often.
There is one more tool, that is not pictured that you need to complete your "must haves". A good pruning saw has a blade like the one on the pole pruner, but with a regular handle for close cutting. My favorite is the Felco folding saw. It fits in your pocket when folded, and cuts amazingly well for a 6 inch blade.
You can buy cheap tools, but they have to be replaced often. There is nothing more frustating than to have a tool break in the middle of a job. It's best to spend a little extra and get a dependable tool that will last. Its cheaper to buy one good one,than several cheap ones.
A tip for the ladies: Ever notice that when man works with you, when he gathers up his tools when you're done, he always seems to take some of yours?(Women aren't supposed to have tools.) Buy a can of hot pink spray paint and paint all your tools. A man will never take a pink tool!! It works great for me. You guys can easily identify your tools by picking a color you like and painting them.
